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Eco@Africa

A green oasis in the land of the pharaohs

Cairo's Al-Azhar Park is still going strong and changing its neighborhood for the better 12 years after it was first opened. Built on a rubbish heap, the park gives the crowded city some much-needed room to breathe.

Hugging the banks of the Nile River, Cairo was known for centuries as a city of gardens. But recent unrelenting migration to the metropolis made the need for housing a priority and by the 1980s nearly all of the city's parks had disappeared; now primarily only small neighborhood parks available to the elite remain.

Today, the capital is Africa's largest city. According to Reuters, greater Cairo is home to nearly 23 million people and is set to absorb another 500,000 by the end of the year - more than any other city in the world. The sprawling metropole is home to a quarter of the whole nation's population, which is leading to intolerable conditions all over the city.

Slums full of ramshackle buildings lacking running water and sanitation dot the city and are home to about 850,000 people. The government has said that around 350 of these slums are unsafe - all the more important to have room to breath.

'Islamic Parchitecture'

The Aga Khan saw this as a challenge and went to work to create a "green lung" for the city. For obvious reasons finding adequate space was not easy. But through the Aga Khan Trust for Culture a suitable location was found: a 33-hectare (81-acre) 500-year-old trash and debris dump. Though the site was near the historic Old City, the adjacent low-income neighborhood of Darb al-Ahmar was one of Cairo's poorest and most troubled areas.

To turn the trash heap into a green space required the removal of 80,000 truckloads of fill and smoldering waste. In the process three enormous fresh water reservoir tanks needed to be hidden within the landscape and historically important centuries-old buildings and architectural elements were uncovered and painstakingly restored.

Attractions like promenades, fountains, a restaurant and an artificial lake were created. And finally to give the park with its traditional Islamic landscape life, 650,000 plants were planted.

A view from the park of Cairo's Old City

After nearly 20 years of hard labor the park was completed in 2004 and officially inaugurated a year later.

The $30 million (25.5 million euro) needed to create the park was a personal gift from the Aga Khan to the people of Cairo to commemorate his ancestors, the Fatimid Califs. He donated another $8 million for the restoration of a number of monuments in the area.

The neighborhood project

Though sometimes criticized, the project leaders thought it was important that visitors understand that the park is something of value. For this reason there is a small entrance fee. And today, admission to the park from the nearly two million visitors and restaurant receipts cover maintenance costs.

But even those who do not go into the park have benefited from it and not only through better air. The community has profited from the restoration of a number of surrounding buildings and schools, the removal of mountains of trash and better sanitation and waste management.

The construction of the park gave jobs to locals, and additional programs were created to help the local community in the Darb al-Ahmar neighborhood in the long term. Job training, healthcare facilities, apprenticeships and micro-credit loans to help local shops were all part of the comprehensive concept.

Ultimately the holistic approach to the park and its community has proven itself a stimulus for urban renewal - most importantly without displacing old residents.

The Al-Azhar Park has been a model for a number of recent projects in other parts of the world: the Parc national du Mali in Bamako, the Forodani Park in Zanzibar and the Garden of Babur in Kabul.

The Aga Khan Trust for Culture is now midway through an agreement to manage the property for 25 years, and there are some concerns that when it's turned over to the local government it will underfund the project and the park may lose some of its lustre. But hopefully the regional authorities see how important green spaces are and will continue to back the project.

The impulse behind the initiative

The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) has been working on development projects around the globe for over half a century. Today, it is an umbrella organization of 10 separate private for and non-profit institutions and is headed by Prince Karim, the Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the Ismaili Muslims

The organization employs 80,000 people worldwide, of which 36,000 are in Africa, where it is active in 13 countries. In 2017, the group and its partners plan to spend $925 million on various projects ranging from education, culture and infrastructure to healthcare and the living conditions of the poor.

Cairo's Al-Azhar Park

Egypt from above

Today, Cairo is Africa's largest city and home to nearly 23 million people. The sprawling metropolis is host to a quarter of the whole nation's population and is expected to grow by another 500,000 this year. Surrounded by a lot of desert and salt water, the city and its citizens can use all the green they can get.

Cairo's Al-Azhar Park

In the beginning

In 1984, the Aga Khan expressed his interest in creating a park in the middle of Cairo. Finding the appropriate location was not easy, but in the end a 500-year-old trash and debris dump on 33 hectares in the neglected low-income neighborhood of Darb al-Ahmar was selected.

Cairo's Al-Azhar Park

Still not done

After years of detailed planning, work on the site near the historic Old City started in 1996. For the next five years 80,000 truckloads of fill and smoldering waste were removed and three monstrous fresh water tanks were buried within the park to meet local water needs.

Cairo's Al-Azhar Park

An impressive green sight

Twenty years after its inception the park was finally finished in 2004 and the officially inaugurated in 2005. The $30 million (25.5 million euro) to create the park was given by the Aga Khan. It was a gift to the people of Cairo to commemorate the foundation of the city by his ancestors, the Fatimid Califs.

Cairo's Al-Azhar Park

Room with a view

Besides fountains, a restaurant and an artificial lake, the park was spruced up with 650,000 new plants. But sometimes this pales in comparison with the majestic views of Cairo's Old City. Though the local government owns the land, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture has taken on running the park for 25 years to assure it a good start in life.

Cairo's Al-Azhar Park

Welcome to the neighborhood

The park pays homage to the neighborhood by borrowing its name from the thousand-year-old Al Azhar Mosque. Located only a few meters west of the park, it is thought the mosque derives its name from the title "az-Zahra" given to Muhammad's daughter, Fatimah. To this day it is still one of the most important centers in Egypt for Sunni Muslims.

Cairo's Al-Azhar Park

Walls as an attraction, not a barrier

During excavation in the park, many ancient buildings and architectural elements were uncovered. These were painstakingly restored and integrated into the park design. Here a section of the Ayyubid Wall is being worked on, though it physically divides part of the park from the surrounding city, it is seen as an attraction not a barrier.

Cairo's Al-Azhar Park

It's all about the details

Part of the overall park project was the restoration of a number of neighboring buildings and schools. Here the finishing touches are being put on a ceiling in the Amir Aslam Mosque. The Al-Azhar Park has served as a model for other similar park projects in Mali, Zanzibar and Afghanistan. Hopefully many more will follow.

Author: Timothy Rooks

In the next months we will highlight some of the Aga Khan Development Network's African projects.